In today’s post I would like to introduce our Featured Artist, for September 2010

The Arctic Stamper

I discovered her work thanks to Stamping Mad Forum, but for those of you who haven’t yet found Sari, here is a little more about her and her work.

Who you are and which country you are based in

Sari: My name is Sari and I come from Finland. I’m originally from Helsinki, so I’m a city girl at heart, but for the last 4 years I’ve been living in the middle of nowhere, way above the Arctic Circle.

What got you started in your creative journey?

I’ve always been interested in all things creative. I used to like making just about anything when I was at school. I’ve always liked photography and at one point I went as far as turning our bathroom into a darkroom, about which my mother was not so amused. I’ve been knitting as long as I can remember. Just about every female member of my family, going back generations, was a knitter, so I guess that’s something that’s truly in my blood. Some 20 years ago I visited a very creative German pen pal of mine and she introduced me to silk painting. I was hooked immediately and thought that I’ve found my calling. I few years later, when I was living in England, I ordered a silk painting catalogue from Germany, since I couldn’t find any supplies where I was. This was before the Internet, so when the catalogue arrived in the mail and as I was flicking though it, I saw a small but very inspiring selection of rubber stamps on one of the pages. I’ve not painted silk much after that but my stamp collection has grown from the initial couple to oooh…several thousands, I think. So, about 15 years later and I’m still totally hooked on stamping.

What inspires you:

My biggest inspiration comes from other stampers and creative people in general. I get inspired by music and films too, nature, weather, seasons, sounds and smells, anything around me. Up here in the north the changing seasons and their colours never stop to inspire me. I love the yellows, oranges and burgundy of the autumn but can’t wait for the whites and light blues, with sparkling glitter, of the winter. And not forgetting the kryptonite greens of the northern lights, of course.

If money,time and obligations were no object, what you would most like to do?

If money, time and obligations were no object, I’d most likely be travelling round the world. All my belongings would fit in one bag and I would travel from one place to another, moving to a different location whenever I would feel like it. I would probably have an art journal with me, to keep the crafty thing going. Oh, and there would probably always be a knitting in my bag too.

What do you enjoy most about your creative work/life?

The thing I enjoy most about my creative life is having an outlet. An outlet for my madness, that is. It’s no good bottling things inside, especially if those things are very crafty thoughts. I recently read that left handers use a ‘visual simultaneous’ method where they process lots of threads at the same time, as opposed to right handers who use their brains in a more linear sequence. That is so true. I have so many threads being processed at all times, having all sorts of ideas in my head. Some of them take shape, change, reshape and eventually come out as something cool.

Another thing I enjoy about my creative life is all the other creative people I’ve met. Now with the Internet, blogs and forums I’ve made so many new friends who all inspire me in one way or another. It also inspires me a lot when others find my doings inspiring.

And the third thing I enjoy is the ability to recycle stuff that would otherwise be chucked to a landfill site. I like to take things apart and turn them into something else. In this very disposable world, it gives me great pleasure to give something a new lease of life. Others have realized this too and they have started to send me ‘rubbish’ parcels.

All in all, I think that the creativity is not something that I do, it’s something that I am. Clever, eh?

Links

To find out more about Sari and her work, please visit her blog and website, details below.

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Billie :)

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